Second Presbyterian Church Sermons

A Child Only the Father Could Love
Hosea 11:1-11

When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. (Hosea 11:1)

Big Idea:

This passage pictures God’s pursuing love of his child, Israel, in three stages: infancy, adolescence, and adulthood.

I. Infancy (vv. 1-4)

Like a child learning to walk, God raised and cared for Israel. However, as much as he pursued Israel in love, they continued to turn away from him to false gods with the promise of material gain, political power, and fertility. Jesus said one must become a child in order to enter the kingdom of heaven. That is, one must admit their total need and dependence on Christ.

II. Adolescence (vv. 5-9)

Israel arrogantly believed they had gotten to where they were on their own merits. They exchanged God’s grace for their own achievements. Despite this hard-hearted arrogance, God will not give up his child. Despite the wrath they should incur, God resolves not to “execute his burning anger.”

III. Adulthood (vv. 10-11)

Though it appears frightening at first, God’s roar, like that of a lion, is to scare his people back into fellowship with himself. Just as a good father, he would rather see his child go through difficulty if it brings them back to himself rather than see his child destroy himself through a lack of repentance. 

Discussion Questions

Give them, O LORD— what will you give? 
(Hosea 9:14)

Big Idea:

What happens when you forget that God is a father? What happens when you forget that God loves us the way a good father loves his child? You act like an orphan. That is exactly what is happening to the Israelites in this passage. They are living like orphans. They’re not living like they belong to God and are loved by him. So what are the marks of one living like an orphan and how does God’s Fatherhood cure them?

I. Disobedient (Hosea 9:1-8, 15-17; 10:13)

First, living like an orphan is to live disobediently. The first and most obvious is disobedience. This is the lust of the eyes, the insistence on doing what seems best to you rather than what God requires. What will be the result of trying to make it as an orphan?  You will be as “lonely as a wild donkey” (8:9). You will not find lasting love in those wrong places. So what must you do? You must seek the Lord again as your Father if you are already a Christian. If you are not, you must come to Christ for your righteousness as Hosea says in 10:12. Let go of your grip on your sins and your insistence on running your life and allowing others to determine your worth.  Instead take hold of Christ and he will transfer his righteous record to you. That will complete the paperwork for becoming a child of God. It will bring you into a family of fathers, mothers, sisters and brothers who will love you unconditionally. It will set you on a path not just of right doing, but of human flourishing. And you will actually start living a life that blesses others and pleases your heavenly Father.  

II. Degradation (Hosea 9:9-10; 10:9-10)

The second way that living like an orphan affects us is by degrading us. Rather than living according to the good design God has woven into creation and commanded us to live according to, we live according to the lust of our flesh. And because our hearts are broken with sin, this lifestyle only ends up degrading us. It makes us live more like animals than humans made in the image of God. Hosea references two major points in Israel’s history where this happened. They ended in rape and murder. Only the gospel of Jesus Christ has an answer for the questions each generation is asking. It’s a much better answer than any other we may find. What is true? God’s Word. What is real? Life as defined by God’s Word. What is good? God’s design for how we are to live in the world he created. What is beautiful? The life lived according to God’s design. 

III. Defiant (Hosea 9:11-14; 10:1-11, 13-15)

The third manifestation of living as an orphan is defiance. This is the most frightening one. The Israelites’ pride is manifest. This is to live with a fist raised to God. They “depend on their own strength” (10:13), harm people around them (10:11), and disobey all the authorities in their life (10:3) because they do not fear the Lord (10:3). How can anyone be rescued from pride?  No one can humble himself.  Acting humble is “false humility” which grates on everyone because it is just another way to draw praise to yourself. True humility is believing that you are significant and what you do is significant but only because God is the sovereign Savior and giver of every good gift. So how do you get this gift of humility?  You can’t contrive it; you can only pray to Jesus for it. And Jesus promises to pray to the Father for it.  And the Father sends his Spirit to give it to you. 

Discussion Questions

Have you observed the negative effects of loneliness in your own life or someone you know? How does living with God as your father help bind you to a community where you can flourish?

Have you observed in your own life or in the life of someone you know the degrading effects of living according to sinful desires rather than submitting to God’s commands? How does knowing God as a good father help compel you to want to follow his commands, even if they seem like they could be counter to your desires? 

What is one way you may be guilty of defiance toward the Lord? Spend time praying for the humility to accept his will and live according to it. 

Spiritual Drift: Hosea 7:1-16

Woe to them, for they have strayed from me! Destruction to them, for they have rebelled against me! I would redeem them, but they speak lies against me. (Hosea 7:13)

Big Idea:

Throughout the book of Hosea, God has pronounced his judgment on his people for their spiritual adultery and he has also demonstrated his steadfast love and abundant mercy by pursuing them before they even apologize. This passage shows us how they got there in the first place. It wasn’t sudden; it was due to gradual drifting, which is something to which we can all be susceptible.  

The first step in drifting from God is to neglect the preaching of the Word in the context of corporate worship. As we have seen already, God reveals sin to us in order to bring us to repentance. Whether through not bringing ourselves before the preached word in order for this to happen or by not humbly listening and applying it to our lives, we can all be susceptible to the drift that occurs when we neglect the means of grace God has given us through preaching. 

When you are not regularly being washed by God’s word in your conscience, you are susceptible to all kinds of false motives. When you are not being regularly inoculated against the sins of the flesh, you are weak in your ability to resist. And when an organization, family or nation neglects the regular and faithful preaching of God’s word it will become susceptible to the most self-serving motives and basest of temptations to illicit sex. 

Finally, Hosea warns that when the word is not renewing your mind so you can approve what God’s will is, you will begin frantically searching for direction from every false source. If we are not hearing God’s Word, its truth will be replaced by another. We cannot live neutral. We are always moving in a direction. The difference, then, is whether we are living in the direction God made us for or another one. 

No matter how long or how far we have drifted from God, there is only one thing to do: confess our sins and receive his grace. Jesus not only stands ready to extend mercy to you when you confess, he pursued you at the ultimate personal cost to bring you back from your drifting. Return to him and he will restore you. 

Discussion Questions